Heney noel pottee



'No. 751,412. PATENTED 1 313.2, 1904.

- H. N. POTTER:- SYSTEM OF LIGHTING BY GAS/0R VAPOR ELECTRIC LAMPS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 1903.

"NF uqnms PETERS Cb, mofoumou WASHINGTON; a. c.

I circuits adapted to the above-named purposes,

UNITED STATES.

Patented February 2, 19045 i PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY NOEL POTTER, on NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO COOPER HEWITTELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SYSTEM OF LIGHTING BY GAS OR VAPOR ELECTRIC LAMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 751,412, dated February2, 1904.

Original application filed May 28, 1901, Serial N 0. 62,182. Divided andthis application filed February 26, 1903. Serial N 0. 145,175.

(No model.)

citizen of the United States, and a resident of I New Rochelle, in thecounty of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Systems of Lighting by Gas or Vapor ElectricLamps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to circuits and apparatus which may be used inoperating gas or vapor electrical devices, and it also includes animproved heating arrangement for apparatus of this class, as will befully set forth in the following specification.

The drawing is'a diagram of a system of together with a detail view of asingle gas or vapor electric lamp and my heating arrangement associatedtherewith.

The present application is a division of an application filed by me onthe 28th day of May,

1901, Serial No. 62,182. In another division of the same originalapplication, such division being serially numbered 145,173, datedFebruary 26, 1903, claims are made upon the vapor apparatus in itsdirect relations to the heater without regard to the system of circuitsincluding the same.

In the drawing, 1 represents a transparent tubesay of glassconstitutingthe main portion of the container for a suitable conducting gas orvapor. In the present instance I have illustrated a lamp in which thecathode (shown at 5) is a mass or puddle of mercury, while the anode(appearing at 2) is of iron. A bulb or enlargement 1 is formed at theupper end of the tube 1 to serve as a cooling-chamber. Leading-in wires7 and 8 are connected, respectively, to the anode 2 and the cathode 5. Isurround the body of the lamp, or a suitable portion thereof, with aheater wire 13, which will generally be a German-silver wire wound uponthe outside of the tube. For the sake of clearness I have here shown theheater-wire apart from the tube. I generally 'wind such a wire moreclosely where it is outside the mercury cathode, as the latter, owing toits large specific heat, can absorb considerable heat, and unless extraheat is providedthe duration of starting of the lamp will beunnecessarily prolonged.

The lamp itself and the heater-wire are arranged in separate parallelcircuits supplied by a suitable generator 70, the heater-wire circuitincluding an interrupter (shown at 88) and the primary 17 of a suitablestartingtransformer, the secondary 18 of which is in the lamp-circuit.The said lamp-circuit may also include a ballast resistance 11. I

The interrupter 88 consists of a coil and a core, the latter beingconnected to a contactpiece 100, adapted to break two stationarycontacts 101 and 102. The form illustrated is diagrammatic of a combinedcut-out and interrupter, many variations of such devices being possible.The contacts are shown apart, the heater-wire circuit being interrupted.Normally before the lamp starts or the system is set in operation thecontact-piece 100 bridges the contacts 101 and 102, and when thecontrolling-switch, shown at 71, is closed there is a complete circuitfrom the dynamo through the coil 88, the starter primary 17, thecontacts 101, 100, and 102, the heater-wire 13, and thence back to thedynamo. The passage of current through this circuit ruptures it bylifting the contact-piece 100; but it is immediately restored by gravityand a rapid automatic interruption and closure of the circuit takesplace. The heater receives current whenever the circuit is closed, andthe starter secondary 18 receives an impulse every time the circuit isbroken, so that the lamptube is heated directly by whatever secondarydischarge occurs and also indirectly by the heater wire 13, the combinedaction being eventually sufiicient to start the tube, whereupon the coil88 holds the interrupter-contacts apart. The primary and secondary ofthe starter are so proportioned and disposed that they may operate asthe ballast for the lamp, although I have shown in the drawing an extraballast 11 in series with the starter.

I claim as my invention 1. In a system of lighting by gas or vaporelectric lamps, a lamp of the class described,

a heater in proximity thereto, a transformer having both its primary andits secondary in series with the lamp and its primary in series with theheater, an electromagnetic coil common to the lamp and heater circuits,and a combined switch and circuit-interrupter adapted to be operated bythe said coil, whereby the last-named apparatus Will be operatedintcrmittently during the starting period of the lamp, and willafterward permanently open the heater-circuit when the lamp begins tooperate.

2. In a system of lighting by gas or vapor electric lamps, a lamp of theclass described, a heater in proximity thereto, a transformer serieswith the lamp and its primary in series with the heater, an extraballast in the lampcircuit, an electromagnetic coil common to the lampand heater circuits, and a combined switch and circuit-interrupteradapted to be operated by the said coil, whereby the combined switch andcircuit-interrupter will be operated intermittently during the startingperiod of the lamp and will permanently open the heater-circuit Whilethe lamp is in operation.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 20th day of February,A. D. 1903.

HENRY NOEL POTTER.

Witnesses:

WM. H. CAPEL, THos. ,HALDENBY BROWN, Jr.

